


Various Storms & Saints

by tnnyoh



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Asexual Daud (Dishonored), Billie Lurk (mentioned) - Freeform, Corvo Attano (mentioned) - Freeform, Daud is still a killer, Delilah Copperspoon (mentioned) - Freeform, Emily Kaldwin (mentioned) - Freeform, Found Family, Gen, The Bone Thugs, low chaos brigmore witches, low chaos knife of dunwall
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-01-20 08:03:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12428442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tnnyoh/pseuds/tnnyoh
Summary: Daud's life after the Rat Plague wasn't an easy one, he lives the pain of his actions each day,  he finds a young girl who reminds him of his old second in command, and when she's kidnapped, he will stop at nothing to save her.





	1. Afraid

How long had it been? Daud thought to himself as he glares out the window of a small and broken down apartment, Many thought he would have headed back to Karnaca - his homeland - after the rat plague, but he found a much more kindred connection to Tyvia.  
It was cold, harsh and unimaginably cruel to the skin, he deserved this after all he had done. When he trapped Delilah in the Void and saved Emily Kaldwin, he thought that he would feel something else, some kind of end, he thought he would feel complete.

But he just felt empty.

It didn't matter what he did, did it? He couldn't undo what he had already done and going forward...

It just didn't matter, he already destroyed an Empire, he murdered an Empress.   
He thought about Billie, his second in command who he had sent away after finding that she had betrayed him, maybe he deserved it. He was old and tired, what had his life been but killing?  
He thought he would put down the blade after Jessamine, but he found that was all he had left of himself. What was the life of a killer without a weapon? He couldn't make a new life for himself, it would always lead back to this, to killing.  
It had been two years since Lurk had left him, two years since Delilah, two years since the Outsider had spoken to him, Daud had no idea if the Outsider was pleased with what he had done or....  
Daud shook himself, why does it matter what that black-eyed bastard thinks? Daud hated him, he never knew what he wanted when he spoke to Daud. A part of him blames the Outsider for this, not for Jessamine, not for Delilah, but for Lurk leaving.  
The Abbey says that the Outsider takes everything good away from your life, maybe they are right.  
He stood up from the table, tossing aside his half-eaten bread roll in disgust, He needed to get away from his thoughts for a while.

* * * *

After two years in Tyvia, Daud was mostly disconnected from the news in other parts of the Isles, he was thankful for that as he walked through the icy streets and saw no newspapers with headlines pertaining to Dunwall or the child Empress.  
He did know that's what they were calling her, from the tourists that came through here, he had found out that not many in the Isles took Emily's reign seriously, she was the youngest Empress that they've ever had, even younger than Jessamine had been.  
He thought about Emily as he looked at the various shop windows, it was early in the morning and many of them were just starting to open for the day. He wondered if Emily would have a good life. Then he laughed to himself, a bitter and dry thing that sounded full of the hatred he had for the world.  
She wouldn't have a good life, he killed her mother.  
There's no coming back from that.  
He turned onto a different street, stepping into his favorite tea shop. He enjoyed the quiet here, instead of sitting alone in a dingy apartment with broken windows and no light, he could sit here next to the high window and watch people pass by as the sun climbed higher in the sky, though muted by the threatening clouds as was normal in Tyvia.  
A man came up to him "What can I get you, sir?"  
Daud looked up at the man, he didn't look Tyvian, he also had an unplaceable accent. Maybe he was from Morley  
"I'll have a cup of dark tea," He said  
"How many pinches of sugar?"  
"Just two," Daud said, He was a simple man and had no use for over garnishing his food or drink.  
He watched the man walk back towards the back of the shop and wondered if life since the rat plague would have been easier if he had become a heavy drinker.   
Alcohol was disgusting, and from all he heard, it didn't help anything, it made it worse.  
What's the point of being numb when you know you have to feel again? Daud would have to never stop drinking to be able to numb his pains.  
And he wasn't sure that was who he was.  
It wasn't fair, either. He deserved to feel that pain, he deserved to remember how much it hurt to have his second in command betray him. He deserved the disconnection from society. He deserved it all.


	2. Unsure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daud just wants to have a cuppa and relax in his favorite shop, that is until fourteen year old Neena charges in, she's got a problem with the owner, and apparently only Daud can fix it.

Daud made a living, he supposed.  
  
Disconnected from everything that once was his former life, he was still a killer.  He wanted desperately for Jessamine Kaldwin to be the last one his blade had touched but he knew that this is who he was.  
  
There was no turning back now.  
  
He sipped his tea slowly, savoring the feeling and taste, it was a relaxing beverage and it was calming his nerves.  He had a lot of nerves to calm.  He watched as a young girl barged into the place and stormed up to the counter as if she owned it, he remembered Billie being that self-assured.  
  
"What the hell, Jonah!?" She said, not even looking around to check if there was anyone in the shop before accosting the owner  
  
"Neena, please.  This is not the time.  Can't you see it's business hours?"  
  
The girl slammed a coin purse on the counter "This is my share of the damn money, where the hell is yours?"  
  
"Neena,"  The man said, a warning tone in his voice  
  
She ignored it and grabbed the purse up again, heading for the door but looking back at Jonah "I swear to you, that money will be mine by the end of the day even if I have to rob this place"  
  
Daud felt her staring at him and he tried to force his eyes to remain looking down at his tea, he heard her footsteps come closer "Hey, your tea is not that interesting. Don't pretend you didn't hear all that"  
  
"It's really none of my business," Daud said, stirring his tea again as some of the sugar had flitted to the bottom.  
  
"It should be your business," She said, her arms crossed "The man who owns this place is a rotten foul piece of Tyvian-wannabe garbage!"  
  
"Lady, I'm going to have to ask you to leave at once!" Jonah said  
  
"Or what?" Neena stood her ground "You gonna have your goons come out from the back and rough me up again?"  
  
"Again?" Daud looked at Jonah and raised an eyebrow  
  
"Fine, shit.  Neena and I were involved with some trade dealing group, nothing too sketchy, I promised her we'd both be rich but I pulled out my side of the money at the last minute, I changed my mind! There's nothing wrong with that"  
  
"Nothing wrong with that? These guys are gonna break my fucking fingers off if you don't give me your half of the money!" Neena said furiously, slamming the coin purse down on Daud's table and causing his teacup to nervously slide to the floor, where it shattered into tiny pieces.  
  
Daud ignored the tea and looked at the two people in front of him, Neena looked furious and Jonah looked frightened "Jonah, what kind of trade group does business with a fourteen-year-old?"  
  
"Hey, screw you," Neena said, turning her attention to him "I'm more than just a fourteen year old and I ain't no kid if that's what you're thinking.  It's a fringe group, edge of society kind of thing.  They don't care who joins as long as they got money, and I sure as hell don't got the money I need"  
  
"I don't want to get involved in this," Daud said, rising from the table "This seems like it's between the two of you"  
  
Neena grabbed his jacket and pushed him back to his seat "Like it or not, you are already involved.  Now, who is it gonna be? You gonna pick Jonah, the skeevy fuck who wants me to lose my fingers or me, the princess of the streets who would do anything to earn a buck or two."  
  
"Oh fuck, not anything you pervert" She jabbed a thumb at Jonah's chest "He tried to get me to mule drugs for him!"  
  
"Jonah, is that true?" Daud asked the man, he knew little about him and the man never spoke of himself, always letting Daud in to drink his tea in silence, even when the shop was closed, Daud found himself rather fond of Jonah, as much as he could be.  But he was fast losing respect for the man  
  
"It was just a little gold dust! Nothing harmful, really!"  
  
"Gold dust?" Daud raised his voice "You asked a fourteen year old kid-" He rose from his chair and ignored Neena's cries of "fuck you"  He approached Jonah calmly but then grabbed him by his uniform "Gold dust is a highly illegal and highly addictive substance, some people get addicted just by being near it for too long and you wanted this girl to haul it for you?"  
  
"You are a respectable man, Yes? A businessman?" Jonah asked, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead  
  
"I'm out of the business," Daud said bitterly  
  
"Well it ain't up to you, you're back in the business now," Neena said "Drop him, quick, The Bone Thug Gang is coming"  She grabbed Daud's jacket and lead him in a run out the door of the tiny tea shop. Jonah in a crumbled mess on the floor surrounded by the shards of Daud's cup  
  
"The Bone Thug Gang?" Daud asked as the girl kept running and kept a hold of his jacket as if she thought he would fly away with no one to anchor him down, he wrenched his sleeve away from her and walked a normal pace  
  
"Yeah, new in town, they wear shitty masks that look like skeletons and do 'shady business'" she slowed her run to a fast paced walk and looked back "I've had a few run-ins with them before, the group me and Jonah were a part of used them for the whole... finger breaking situation.  I sure as hell don't want to get my fingers snapped off, I watched it happen to a guy once, he threw up on one of the thug's shoes and then they broke his goddamn toes!"  
  
"You need to pick better company," Daud said as she pulled him roughly back into an alley, three men wearing skeleton masks ran by, Looking in all directions  
  
"Where the- Where did she go?!" One of the men said  
  
"I think she went over here," another one said, and they were off again, running like mad to break the fingers of a fourteen-year-old girl.  
  
She slumped against the alley wall and tried to catch her breath "Apparently" She responded.  She wasn't quite finished regaining her strength when she grabbed Daud's hand. His glove must have come off in the run "Woah" She said, spotting his mark, a gift given to him long ago by the Outsider.  
  
"Is that a tattoo?" She asked "That looks just like what the Abbey says the heretical 'brand' of the Outsider looks like"  
  
Daud wrenched his hand away from her for the second time "It's a tattoo"  
  
"Prove it," Neena said "Prove that it's not something supernatural"  
  
Daud made a face "Look, Kid, I have to get back home and... you should probably find somewhere to go to meet better people"  
  
"Uh huh," She said as he turned away "No way, Sailor, you're not leaving.  You're not going to get rid of me that easily.  I have nowhere else to go"  
  
"You don't have a home?"  
  
"I do" She responded, "But my father is kind of drunk piece of garbage."  
  
"Mother?"  
  
"She works at a whore house in Dunwall, left me when I was about six"  
  
The Golden Cat Daud thought, the most well known skeevy location in Dunwall, it was a place for aristocrats and the downtrodden alike to leer at women in skimpy clothing.  Daud never understood personally understood any of that.  Though he wasn't one to judge anyone's interests, after all, his main interest for years was murdering people for coin.    
  
"I'm sorry," Daud said, feeling a pang of sympathy for the kid  
  
"Don't be stupid" She said "It's not something to be sorry about, if my parents did care about me I'm sure I'd be worse off" she reasoned  
  
He sighed "Fine, you can come back to my home with me until the heat is off"  
  
Neena grinned "Cool, remind me to break the radiator when I get there"  
  
Daud knew at this moment that he was in one hell of a situation, but she reminded him so much of Billie, what was he to do? Turn her away to live on the streets and possibly get her fingers snapped in half? He couldn't do that, he was where she was once, many moons ago. He remembered living on the street, a fate he wouldn't condemn even his worst enemy to.  
  
Whether he liked it or not, he was now in the care of another street child with a big mouth.  
  
  
  



	3. Wonder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neena is staying with Daud until the heat from the Bone Thug's is off, while laying low, she becomes curious about Daud's past and asks him about it.

Three days later and the fires were out, but she still wouldn't leave.

Daud's apartment was located in a tiny alcove overlooking a dank looking alley, he supposed he liked living out of the way. It kept people from causing trouble.

That is until trouble came to live with him.

"When are you going to leave?" Daud said, setting down a bowl of soup in front of her, it was mid-afternoon and the winds outside were howling, a snowstorm was on it's way.

Neena picked up a spoon and took a careful bite before answering him "I know you think that the fire is out, but the bone thugs aren't... they aren't kidding around, who knows what will happen if they spot me out on the street"

"Then don't be out on the street" Daud said, crossing his arms as he took a seat opposite her

She ripped off a piece of bread and dunked it into her soup, shaking her head "Are you saying go to an orphanage? Like that's any better."

"I'm not saying anything of the sort, I've seen a lot of orphanages and I know how they operate. But if you know where the Bone Thugs primarily hang out, avoid going to or around those areas"

"But.... they own half the quarter of the city. Can't go into a shop without running into someone who does business with them"

Daud recalled Jonah, the tea shop owner and chuckled "Apparently not"

"Oh, you thinking of Jonah? The shit."

"Why exactly did you two team up anyway?" Daud asked, his soup sat forgotten on the table while the bread started to dry out

"He saved my ass from some other thugs last year"

"You have a habit of getting targeted by the gangs of Tyvia?"

"None of your business" She shrugged "But yeah, I do. Because I'm smarter than them and I hoard ammo and they are pissed about it" She leaned back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling "I started stealing ammo from loaded guns, I mean get pissed about something real."

Daud took a small bite of his bread before setting it back down on the plate and raising an eyebrow at Neena "What do you do with the ammo?"

"Sell it on the sly, of course," She said, clearly pleased with herself.

"Your attitude is definitely going to get you killed out there, or worse"

"Maybe if I had a totally cool tattoo like yours, nobody would be able to touch me"

Daud chuckled darkly "You don't want one of these. This" He held out his hand "Something you think makes your life easier, it makes you someone but you're still a nobody. And you are still lost"

"Are you talking about yourself?" Neena asked, poking at the mark on his hand "Because honestly, you sound... depressed"

"Maybe I am"

"Because of this tattoo? Is it something you regret?"

"There are many things I regret, Maybe I'd have less without this. But I doubt it"

They sat in silence for a while, both eating their soup and bread. Neena occasionally looked around the room, maybe trying to spot something new. She'd been touching all of the things in his apartment the last couple of days and he was fairly certain she was nicking some of it.

Daud was wary of her, he didn't think she was particularly dangerous but he knew the type, trouble followed her around. He remembered another just like her all those years ago.

When he met Billie, he still thought he was somebody who mattered. When he took her under his wing and showed her a life he thought was better, he had thought that he was doing her a service, saving her from the hell of living on the streets. But he just saved her from one hell and brought her into another.

He turned her into a trained killer, and sometimes when they worked together all those years ago the violence and hatred in her eyes scared him, he felt responsible for destroying her. He knew she had a hard life before she met him, he knew she had killed a man before but...

"So you've met the Outsider?" Neena asked suddenly, Daud responded by taking his bowl and rising from the chair he had been sitting in

"You're too young to be so interested in such heresy" He grabbed her bowl as well and dumped them both in the sink.

"I think it's interesting. I've heard stories about the Outsider when I was younger, I knew they weren't stories. Why is the Abbey so afraid of something that's not real? I asked myself, I reasoned that they might have just created him as an allegory to scare people into behaving... But it feels wrong."

"Nothing about the Outsider is interesting. Just darkness and mystery"

"Sounds a bit like a romance novel!" Neena said excitedly "Imagine the dark stranger of The Void whisking away a mortal princess, looking deep into her eyes and saying 'Join the darkness with me, my dear'" She dramatically pushed herself out of the chair and crumpled to the floor as though she had fainted

Daud didn't know how to deal with her

"Look, this isn't anything you should be asking about. Just mind your own" Daud said, fixing the chair and helping her off the dirty floor

She brushed herself off and sighed "I know what I see in your eyes old man," she said squinting to look at him "You're haunted, and you're going to stay haunted until you open up about it. Who the hell do you think I'm going to tell?"

"I don't think you're going to tell anyone, but you don't need to know what I have done. That is my life, not yours"

"If you don't tell me I'm just going to build a shrine and wait till the Outsider comes to talk and I'll ask him all about it"

"You will not build shrines in my apartment"

"I will, I already have bone charms! A lot of them." She crossed her arms and stood her ground, Daud was so forcibly reminded of Billie in her younger years that he couldn't help but laugh

Maybe it was time to move forward, to release the past. He hadn't spoken of any of this in so long, and there was so much hidden inside him that so many, not even Billie, knew.

"All right," He said with a chuckle "I suppose there's no real harm in telling you some of my stories, you're no kid"

"No, I'm not. So don't skimp on the bloodshed"

Daud sat with Neena that afternoon, speaking about his youth and the adventures he had, he carefully skirted around the more uncomfortable aspects of his life, losing his mother. They had been sitting there for at least an hour before Daud got to meeting the Outsider

"What does he look like?"

"Like a man"

"Just a man? The Abbey makes it seem as though he's some kind of monster"

"Who knows what he is or what his true intentions are. He is... more than what he says. You can't trust him. His gifts always come with something more."

Neena nodded "Sounds mysterious"

After a bit more talking, Daud knew he needed to end it, he wasn't about to tell her that he was responsible for killing the Empress of The Isles Jessamine Kaldwin. He couldn't bear thinking about it, let alone talking about it. He was a murderer in trade, but that was one murder he had wished never happened.

Why did he have to listen to Burrows? Of all the skeevy bastards to take money from for a hit, why did it have to be Burrows? The man's gaunt features and obvious paranoia should have been a tip-off to Daud that he wasn't to be trusted, and yet Daud was over eager, He thought that it would make his name feared across all the empire.

That he would be able to do better for himself, for his whalers.

But all he did was plunge The Empire into chaos and traumatize a little girl. Emily Kaldwin was there to watch her mother die, Daud couldn't have planned that. If he had any control over what happened, she wouldn't have been there.

He supposed it was some sort of sick joke that she was there, that the Outsider must have guided her to that Gazebo to witness the most horrifying event in her life. bastard.

He dismissed any further questions

"I'm going to head out for a while, stay low and keep yourself out of trouble. Meaning, don't leave this apartment"

She groaned "I haven't left the apartment for three days and you say that every time you leave. I know. And what's your deal anyway? An hour ago you didn't want me to be here anymore"

"An hour ago I wanted to know why you were still here, that still stands. But while you're still here, I have to make sure you don't get yourself killed. Mind your hands, I know you've been nicking stuff from here"

She shifted uncomfortably and frowned as Daud left the building, locking the door behind him.

 

 


	4. Cornered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daud wants to clear the air with Jonah, but the situation with the Bone Thugs is getting more dangerous.

Daud walked out the door feeling like he made a big mistake leaving her alone in his apartment, she was going to nick his stuff, he just knew it. He shrugged, let her pawn it off for some coin, maybe it'd get her out of here faster.

He knew he ordered her to stay in the apartment, but he knew damn well as soon as he got as far away from the apartment she'd have tried to sneak out. It wasn't the first time.

He was on his way to see Jonah and see if he could clear up the issues, he planned on talking it out, but as these things usually go, talking wasn't the only thing in his arsenal.

The little bell on the shop door rang as he went inside, a couple of people were sitting at tables chatting among themselves. Daud spotted a waiter and stopped her with his gloved hand "Hey Miss, is the boss in?"

She shrugged "I ain't seen him"

"Maybe I can help alter your memory with some coin" He handed her over a small bag of silver, she rolled her eyes and indicated the wall behind her "He's out in the alley, careful though, He's doing business"

"I thought this was his business"

"We all got a side hustle honey" She winked "Thanks for the coin"

"Don't mention it" She walked away to tend to one of the tables, Daud backed out of the shop and peaked around into the alley

He spotted Jonah surrounded by several thugs.

One woman, arms crossed was standing in front of him. "You know where that little shithead is, and I want you to tell us"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"The GIRL!" She said, kicking him in the shin "That little brat stole the rest of our money AND our goods."

"I haven't seen her in days," Jonah said, breathing heavy

"I'm going to let you off the hook here, but if you catch any wind of that little snitch, you report directly to us or you're going to be losing a lot more than customers" She spit at him and snapped her fingers, notifying the other gang members to follow her out of the alley.

Daud pinned himself against the shop door as the gang walked past.

As soon as they were out of his vision, he moved into the alley and stood in front of Jonah, who was huddled up in a terrified ball with his eyes covered "Oh please, please I said I didn't see her! Please don't hurt me"

"It's Daud"

Jonah lifted his hand away from his eyes "By the Outsider, it IS you!" he rushed to his feet, brushing off the dust from his trousers

"What by all in the isles are you doing here?" He asked, looking at Daud as though he thought he was insane

"I think I should be the one asking questions here Jonah, But it's not safe to talk here, how about you come by this address after you close the shop?" He handed him a little slip of paper, Jonah eyed it "I'm not sure I feel safe going to an unmarked location in the middle of the night to meet an assassin"

"Jonah, will you knock off the paranoia? I've been in your shop every day for a year. If I was going to kill you, I would have already killed you. Twice"

He patted the man on the shoulder "Just meet me there Jonah, you're in some deep shit and I think you need my help."

"Fine, fine, let me close up the shop and I'll come out."

Daud watched as he limped back into the shop and bustled about behind the counters, it was time Daud headed back to the apartment to see the damage Neena had done.

Stepping back into the apartment, Daud felt the chill like a blast of wind during a storm. The place was trashed, books littered the floor, his lamp knocked off the table and glass sparkling all around.

"Neena?"

"Be quiet!" A small voice said in response

"Excuse me? Neena where are you?"

"I'm in here, but shush! I think I've almost-"

Daud pulled back a curtain that was haphazardly put up, presumably by Neena.

The sight that met him was shocking, to say the least, Neena was kneeling in front of a poorly put together shrine with her eyes closed

"What in the Void" Daud picked up a rock sitting by Neena's foot

"Didn't I specifically tell you -not- to put together a shrine in my apartment?"

"Yes" Neena responded, her eyes still closed "But I got bored"

"You want to explain what the hell happened to my apartment?"

"Uh" She opened her eyes "Well, I got mad and I kicked some stuff, knocked it over, punched a hole in your wall over there"

Daud sighed "You have to help me clean this shit up, I have Jonah coming over here tonight after he's done at the shop"

Neena stood up so fast she knocked the tiny shrine over "What?!"

She reached out to punch Daud in the arm but he evaded "How the fuck can you invite him here? That asshole tried to kill me"

"It's the bone thug gang who is trying to kill you, and they are pretty damn adamant they find you. I saw them threatening Jonah in the alley near his shop, You're still in trouble, and the fire's not out"

"So why invite the man who got me started in this shit in the first place?"

"I don't trust Jonah to be by himself, he's weak, and weak people talk. The Thugs think you got away from them, that you and I split up and aren't hanging around, Jonah knows differently."  
"Can I not be here when he's here? I might end up ripping his eyes out"

"You have to stay here," Daud said with a warning tone in his voice "I don't like this any more than you do, but you will not leave this apartment, not even while Jonah is here, and you will be civil"

"I don't want to be civil"

"Be normal, at least, none of this Outsider shrine nonsense when he's here"

"What am I supposed to do then?"

"Wait"

Neena stood with her arms crossed

"And, help me clean this up"

Daud knew this was going to be one long evening, but he had a bad feeling it was going to get a lot more complicated.


End file.
